IOC President Jacques Rogge wants to expand the youth festival concept worldwide.(ATR)

(ATR) Sources tell Around the Rings that IOC President Jacques Rogge wants to see the start of a World Youth Olympic Festival beginning in 2010. The project could become the first new sports property of the IOC since the Winter Olympics started in 1924.

ATR is told that the project is in the discussion phase, although a small working group of IOC staff met last Monday to consider issues involved with moving ahead.

The IOC president launched the Olympic youth festival concept in 1990, when he was president of the European Olympic Committees, the continental association which represents the NOCs of Europe. The event is now held every other year, with the same sequence for a winter version. Only teens are eligible, with ages depending on the sport. For the 2007 festival in Belgrade, participants will be no older than 17 and no younger than 13.

The Australian Olympic Committee stages its version of the festival, inviting participants from around the world to Sydney.

Around the Rings understands that among the sensitive issues to be settled is how host citi

The number of events and size of the festival would be a concern, especially since all 204 NOCs would be invited to send athletes. What is the right number to send without overwhelming a host city with cost?

In Belgrade this year 12 sports are on the program, four of them team sports. Would deciding which to include trigger a battle among federations?

Financing the festival might involve complications between the 11 worldwide Olympic sponsors and potential local underwriters. Government support would seem to be a must.

The next steps in moving the project along are expected to be decided in Beijing next month when the IOC Executive Board will consider the file. One EB member says only discussions have taken place. “No decisions yet,” he says.

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